In recent years there has been an increased emphasis on recycling certain materials. This makes particular sense with regard to aluminum containers, since this is economically attractive in terms of energy savings. Despite this, however, only a relatively small fraction of aluminum beverage cans are recovered after use, with the remainder being wastefully discarded. There may be several reasons for this, but one of the most significant is simply the absence of conveniently situated stations for receiving the empty containers and storing these in a compact space for periodic collection.
One of the most suitable locations for a collection station would be in association with vending machines which dispense drinks in aluminum containers. At such a location, the patrons could dispose of their empty cans in the collection station, and then these could be removed periodically by the same personnel who service the vending machines.
Vending machine stands generate a fairly large flow of empty cans, so a collection machine must be able to process these fairly expeditiously. Also, the empties tend to be generated in somewhat intermittent batches, as at the end of a lunch or break period, and so the machine must be able to accept a number of these being inserted in rapid succession. On the other hand, the volume is not so great as to warrant very high-speed, heavy-duty, complicated, and expensive equipment, nor would it warrant continuous operation of the machine. Furthermore, the machine must be able to operate in a relatively adverse environment with a minimum of service, being that collection of beverage cans is necessarily messy in nature, and numerous attempts to vandalize the mechanism can be expected. In short, the machine must be able to handle groups of cans inserted in rapid succession, and then remain shut down when no cans are being inserted, and must also be energy efficient and simple, rugged, and inexpensive in construction.
Numerous machines have been developed in the prior art for receiving and compacting empty aluminum containers. A number of these have been simple, hand-operated units which are simply impractical for a commercial installation of the type outlined above. On the other hand, many of the self-powered devices are designed for high-speed operation for crushing great numbers of cans on a more-or-less continuous basis, such as would be encountered at a municipal waste facility or full-time recycling operation. In general, these are simply too large and expensive and consume too much energy for installations of the type described above, and also frequently require the services of attendant personnel.
There are, however, a few automatic collection machines which have been developed in the prior art to receive and compact aluminum cans which are intermittently deposited by individual patrons. Examples of such machines are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,953,682, 4,499,824, and 4,469,212. However, these attempts have generally been hampered by serious deficiencies of one form or another. For example, the machine which is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,953,682 (Helbawi) represents a very complicated and expensive construction, and uses expensive and trouble-prone hydraulics for its crusher mechanism. U.S. Pat. No. 4,499,824 (Elwing et al.) and U.S. Pat. No. 4,469,212 (DeWoolfson et al.), in turn, are both deficient in that only one can can be inserted into the machine at a time, which is simply unacceptable for most applications. As for their crushing mechanisms, Elwing et al. again show the use of a relatively complicated system which employs expensive, problem-prone hydraulics, while DeWoolfson et al. disclose an electromechanical system which has the advantage of simplicity, but this uses components (e.g., a crank-driven piston rod) which are still somewhat expensive, and are subject to excessive wear and damage when used in a crushing application.
Accordingly, there exists a need for a machine for receiving empty aluminum cans from patrons in a vending machine area or the like, and for automatically compacting these for storage and subsequent collection. Furthermore, there exists a need for such a machine which is able to handle batches of such cans being inserted in rapid succession. Still further, there exists a need for such a machine which is simple, inexpensive, and durable in construction, yet which is also energy efficient and relatively maintenance-free in operation.